Privacy Policy & Practices

Notice Origination: 10/01/2001

Notice Effective: 09/23/2013

Notice Revised Effective: 11/01/2023

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

We understand the importance of your privacy and are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your medical information. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information, to provide individuals with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information, and to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information. This notice describes how we may use and disclose your medical information. It also describes your rights and our legal obligations with respect to your medical information.

TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS

The most common reason why we use or disclose your health information is for treatment, payment, or health care operations. Examples of how we use or disclose information for treatment purposes are: setting up an appointment for you; testing or examining your eyes; prescribing glasses, contact lenses, or eye medications and faxing them to be filled; referring you to another doctor or clinic for eye care or services; or getting copies of your health information from another professional that you may have seen before us. Examples of how we use or disclose your health information for payment purposes are: asking you about your health or vision care plans, or other sources of payment; preparing and sending bills or claims; and collecting unpaid amounts (either ourselves or through a collection agency or attorney). "Health care operations" mean those administrative and managerial functions that we must do in order to run our office. Examples of how we use or disclose your health information for health care operations are: financial or billing audits; internal quality assurance; personnel decisions; participation in managed care plans; defense of legal matters; business planning; and outside storage of our records.

USES AND DISCLOSURES FOR OTHER REASONS WITHOUT PERMISSION

In some limited situations, the law allows or requires us to use or disclose your health information without your permission. Not all of these situations will apply to us; some may never come up at our office at all. Such uses or disclosures are: when a state or federal law man dates that certain health information be reported for a specific purpose, for public health purposes, such as contagious disease reporting, investigation or surveillance; and notices to and from the federal Food and Drug Administration regarding drugs or medical devices, uses or disclosures for victims of suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence, uses and disclosures for health oversight activities, such as for the licensing of doctors; for audits by Medicare or Medicaid; or for investigation of possible violations of health courts or administrative agencies, disclosures for law enforcement purposes, such as to provide information about someone who is or is suspected to be a victim of a crime; to provide information about a crime in our office; or to report a crime that happened somewhere else, disclosures relating to worker's compensation programs, disclosures of a "limited data set" for research, public health, or health care operations, incidental disclosures that are an unavoidable by-product of permitted uses or disclosures or disclosures to "business associates" who perform health care operations for us and who commit to respect the privacy of your health information. In the event that this medical practice is sold or merged with another organization, your health information/record will become the property of the new owner, although you will maintain the right to request that copies of your health information be transferred to another physician or medical group. Unless you object, we will also share relevant information about your care with your family or friends who are helping you with your eye care.

In the case of a breach of unsecured protected health information, we will notify you as required by law. If you have provided us with a current e-mail address, we may use e-mail to communicate information related to the breach. In some circumstances, our business associate may provide the notification. We may also provide notification by other methods as appropriate.

APPOINTMENT REMINDERS AND IN OFFICE IDENTIFICATION

We may use and disclose information about you by having you sign in when you arrive at our office. We may also call out your name when we are ready to see you. We may communicate with you electronically, by phone or through the mail to remind you of scheduled appointments, to tell you that it is time to make a routine appointment or to communicate regarding the status of your eyeglass or contact lens order. We may also communicate with you electronically, by phone or through the mail to notify you of other treatments or services available at our office that might help you. Unless you tell us otherwise, we send you electronic communications, mail you an appointment reminder on a postcard, and/or leave you a reminder message on your answering machine or with someone who answers your phone if you are not available.

OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES

We will not make any other uses or disclosures of your health information unless you sign a written "authorization form" with content mandated by federal law. We may initiate the authorization process if the use or disclosure is our idea, or you may initiate the process for us to send your information to someone else. Typically, in this situation you will give us a properly completed authorization form or you can use one of ours.

If we initiate the process and ask you to sign an authorization form, you do not have to sign it. If you do not sign the authorization, we cannot make the use or disclosure. If you do sign one, you may revoke it at any time unless we have already acted in reliance upon it. Revocations must be in writing to the Compliance Officer at our office.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION

The law gives you many rights regarding your health information. You can:

• Ask us to restrict our uses and disclosures for purposes of treatment (except emergency treatment), payment, or health care operations. You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information by a written request specifying what information you want to limit, and what limitations on our use or disclosure of that information you wish to have imposed. If you tell us not to disclose information to your commercial health plan concerning health care items or services for which you paid for in full out-of-pocket. We will abide by your request unless we must disclose the information for treatment or legal reasons. We reserve the right to accept or reject any other request and will notify you of our decision. To ask for a restriction, send a written request to the Compliance Officer at our office.
• Ask us to communicate with you in a confidential way, such as by phoning you at work rather than at home. We will accommodate these requests if they are reasonable, and if you pay us for any extra cost involved. If you want to ask for confidential communications, send a written request to the Compliance Officer at our office.
• Ask to see or get copies of your health information. By law, there are a few limited situations in which we can refuse to permit access or copying. However, for the most part, you will be able to review or have a copy of your health information within 15 days of asking us (or sixty days if the information is stored off-site). You may have to pay for photocopies in advance. If your records are contained within an EMR (electronic medical records) system, you have the right to receive your information electronically through a secured and mutually satisfactory method. Health information may be sent electronically over unsecured methods if you have been advised of and fully understand the risks of this transmission. If no mutually satisfactory electronic method is found, paper records may be provided. If receiving your health information electronically, you may be charged for supply costs for any portable media, such as USB Drive or CD. If we deny your request, we will send you a written explanation, and instructions about how to get an impartial review of our denial if one is legally available. By law, we can have one 30-day extension of the time for us to give you access or photocopies if we send you a written notice of the extension. If you want to review or get photocopies of your health information, send a written request to the Compliance Officer at our office. You may also request electronic copies of your health information; this must be provided in a secure method such as on a thumb drive or through a secure web portal. 
• Ask us to amend your health information if you think that it is incorrect or incomplete. If we agree, we will amend the information within 60 days from when you ask us. We will send the corrected information to persons who we know got the wrong information, and others that you specify. If we do not agree, you can write a statement of your position, and we will include it with your health information along with any rebuttal statement that we may write. Once your statement of position and/or our rebuttal is included in your health information, we will send it along whenever we make a permitted disclosure of your health information. By law, we can have one 30-day extension of time to consider a request for amendment if we notify you in writing of the extension. If you want to ask us to amend your health information, send a written request. including your reasons for the amendment. to the Compliance Officer at our office.
• Obtain a list of the disclosures that we have made of your health information within the past six years (or a shorter period if you want). By law, the list will not include disclosures for purposes of treatment, payment, or health care operations; disclosures with your authorization; incidental disclosures; disclosures required by law; and some other limited disclosures. You are entitled to one such list per year without charge. If you want more frequent lists, you will have to pay for them in advance. We will usually respond to your request within 60 days of receiving it. But by law, we can have one 30-day extension of time if we notify you of the extension in writing. If you want a list or additional paper copies of this Notice of Privacy Practices, send a written request to our Compliance Officer.
• By law, we will retain all your health information for at least seven (7) years after the last date of your encounter with one of our doctors. After this time your health information may be shredded or disposed of in another confidential method.

OUR NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

By law, we must abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practice (NPP) until we revise it. We reserve the right to change this notice at any time as allowed by law. If we change the NPP, the new privacy practices will apply to your health information that we already have as well as to such information that we may generate in the future. If we change our NPP, we will post the new notice in our office, make copies available, and post it on our website.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

If you think that we have not properly respected the privacy of your health information, you are free to complain to our office or to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you if you make a complaint. If you prefer to complain directly to us, please send a written complaint, attention MED Compliance Officer, to 8614 Westwood Center Dr., Suite 900, Vienna, VA 22182. If you prefer to communicate via email, or if you would like additional information, please contact our Compliance Officer at [email protected].